Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, Saturday, All Day

[bigdamnprincipal]

It always felt like a bit of a stretch to call an event in January a "picnic," and the weather today wasn't helping with how seasonably cold it was outside. Thankfully, there was plenty of warm food to keep everyone toasty, along with as many carafes as The Perk would offer, filled with hot water for tea, light and dark roast coffee, and hot chocolate.

It was time to welcome in another new semester, everyone!

[Going OCD-free this time, stay warm together!]

Comments

[not_a_haint]

"It's small, enough to support a very small community." There had never been, as far as Caleb had been able to tell, more than 20 children at a time, with a few adults to teach the basics. "We had vegetable gardens and some livestock. Nothin' spectacular."

[stykera]

"Oh. I've never really spent time on farms. But I like horses?"

He'd picked that up from a friend.

"There's a student here with a horse."

Not the zombie one, either!

[not_a_haint]

"We didn't have any horses that lived on the farm but in the summer we got folks who'd come with the horses from their farms to teach us how to care for 'em. I like horses too. We did have some pigs, cows and chickens."

His favorite were the cows.

[stykera]

"I've never had animals of my own to care for. Just other people's, sometimes. I've been thinking of getting a dog..."

One of these days. Maybe.

"Were you on your farm before you came here or were you somewhere else?"

[not_a_haint]

"Oh dogs are great." Caleb smiled sadly, remembering one elderly basset hound in particular.

"Yeah I lived there for most of my life, since I was real little. It uh, it's kind of an orphanage, I guess."

[stykera]

"Oh. I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to. I haven't got family either. There are a lot of us here who don't, really."

[not_a_haint]

"I appreciate that, thank you. Maybe someday but, I'm still gettin' my bearin's just bein' out in the world."

[stykera]

"Are you staying in the dorms?" Stark asked. "Or do you have a place to stay at all? Anything else I can help you with? I...I know it's difficult sometimes. To come here from nearly anywhere else. It's an odd place and there are all manner of new things. I...do you know about any of it?"

Stark, that was rather vague and ominous.

[not_a_haint]

"I'm uh...compartmentalizin' all that for the moment." He didn't remember where he read that word but he imagined if he'd tried using it in any ordinary school yard when he was little it would have earned him an apple thrown at his head. "But I've been told some interestin' things. I b'lieve the professor with the dead horse called it a nexus point or somethin'." Yeah he'd just deal with being in college in an unfamiliar town for the moment thanks.

"Oh I am stayin' in the dorms, yeah. That's part of why I was hopin' for a map of the school."

[stykera]

"Professor wi-" Stark looked around, then nodded. Liliana. Of course. That made sense. Sort of.

"I'll get you a map. There must be one around here somewhere..." Maybe there was one conveniently located on some handwavey table. There probably was. It seemed like the sort of thing that would be about on a day like this.

"And yes, nexus is a good word for it. People are here from...all sorts of places. And there are some odd animals around. And people with...abilities. You, you don't seem too surprised by the horse?"

[not_a_haint]

"Well I thought it was really sick at first, then I got a closer look at it, and I guess by that time I'd heard enough odd things that it kind of just fit." Yeah, that's the ticket. "Are there any safety guidelines I should know about?"

Not whistling at night, if you hear your name from the woods no you didn't, don't let the black eyed children into your home, that sort of thing.

[stykera]

"What other odd things have you heard?" Stark asked.

He paused for a moment.

"It's mostly safe here. Nearly always. Much safer than where I lived before. The zombies in the bar won't hurt you. None of the animals are dangerous, usually. Well. The raccoons have kidnapped me but they don't do that to anyone else." Yet?

"The squirrels can be bribed with rum."

[not_a_haint]

"Well I talked to a lady who was from another planet." Which he'd mostly been humoring her about but now...he was going to think about that later.

"I don't think I know what a zombie is." he was going to go with that one because he just didn't know how to ask about the squirrels or racoons.

[stykera]

"There's a few of us from other planets," Stark said. "You met Rey?"

There weren't that many space people around these days and he'd seen Rey.

"Zombies are undead. Like... the horse. Sometimes they're dangerous. The ones in the bar just play music."

[not_a_haint]

Zombies sounded somewhat like haints maybe. Some could be relatively benign as long as you let them be.

"Yeah that's her. I guess she kinda, softened the blow of the dead horse and all." And the time travel and the dimensional stuff which he would deal with after at least one night's sleep.

[stykera]

"Rey is good people," Stark said. "I feel like there's so much about this place but hearing it all at once can be too much. Hard to believe. But it's generally true. It's a very odd place but a good one."

[not_a_haint]

That actually sounded similar to the spiel he'd been given when Miss Ellie took him to live in the Cradle. An odd place but a good one.

"That's very good to hear."